Applegreen own brand chargers

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119739932#Comment_119739932

Either use a public network, which is too much hassle, or buy a house where they have a driveway

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119739973#Comment_119739973

Such simple solutions

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119739932#Comment_119739932

Stick to ICE and hound the management company or council to install chargers they can use. So they can move to an EV

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119739955#Comment_119739955

You don’t do your weekly shopping in a corner shop.

you don’t do your regular charging at a fast charger or indeed public charger.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119740030#Comment_119740030

Wise words, however without the ability for these people to move to EVs the uptake will slow and people might actually move back to ICE from EV

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119740030#Comment_119740030

I do, and it works fine. How long have you been driving an EV without your own charger?

the_amazing_raisin

I think 60c/kWh is a bit steep for 2x 50kW chargers, but maybe Applegreen are ahead of some oncoming price hikes from ESB and Easygo.

I'd say for the HPCs they're installing, 60c/kWh sounds like a good price

Like I've said, you get what you pay for. You can go cheap and risk queueing at the ESB charger, or pay the premium and not have to queue at another provider

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119739812#Comment_119739812

They could also be preparing to upgrade the chargers, since they already have the grid connection, and they're pricing it to match

Old diesel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119740030#Comment_119740030

If the Govt is serious about EVs then making provision for drivers to use up to 100 percent public charging as required.

Will need to be on the table.

The key to it will be looking at where people park their cars not just at home but also the places they go to in their cars....

Big aim is to develop the concept of charging your car while naturally doing other things.

For example if I need to go to Patrick Street in Cork 3 times a week then in the future Merchant's Quay car park could have chargers. And id charge the car while parked there.

We haven't really scratched the EV charging possibilities in a future Ireland at all imo....

We might even have mobile charging where a fella in a van with a battery in the back charges your car while parked....

https://airqualitynews.com/2022/09/22/charge-fairy-ev-brings-charge-points-to-locations-without-access/

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119740106#Comment_119740106

Never, I charge at home over night and couldn’t fathom going to a public charger several times a week.

plenty of new EVs added each week. Enjoy sharing a charger with them

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119740604#Comment_119740604

It always gets me that the people who say it doesn't work are the ones with zero experience. They are as bad as the people who've never owned an EV and claim they couldn't possibly replace an ICE vehicle. There seems to be multiple people managing, and it's these customers who result in network expansions, not the blow-ins who might charge 3 times a year.

Meanwhile in the actual world companies like Applegreen rolling out chargers is a great improvement and makes the situation much easier for everyone. I only hope that Applegreen federate with the subscription providers.

Old diesel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119740620#Comment_119740620

It looks much trickier if the charging network is sub par as it is in Ireland....

But individual circumstances are crucial here.

Workplace charging for example is almost as good as home charging if you work 5 days a week....

Also its fair for someone in Donegal to say that the infrastructure is too poor for 100 percent public charging.

But what if your local area is Loughrea which is quite good by Irish standards....

That's why individual circumstances are key and also the individual motivation is overlooked.

Someone who really wants an EV is more likely to make 100 percent public charging work in lets say Cork.

Then a diesel driver who is half heartedly trying out the tech because their employer told them to go EV on their company car.

innrain

There is a quote I red sometimes in a different century

Bad weather always looks worse through a window

If you're not getting out there you can't actually experience it. With all due respect to those saying the EVs are suitable for those with driveway access, this idea is nothing but allowing the status quo to continue. Evolution needs forces to push boundaries. Personally I do not accept "I can't be done" and I'm more of "challenge accepted" kind. Its 3 1/2 years since I got my first EV. Over 4 years ago I engaged with property management agent regarding installing a charger. Last week the board of management approached me to let me know they apply for the grant, bypassing the agent. Who knows how many months will pass until I actually see it done. I understand life is much easier with your own charger but easy life is boring. I may be lucky but since I got my first EV the charging infrastructure around me improved, having a DC charging at a close enough Lidl, DC charger close to work, Supercharger 5 minutes driving, 10 AC free chargers within walking distance. Another SuC coming 5 minutes to work. In 3 1/2 years I drove around 100k km and I don't want to get into the financial advantages as I may start feeling guilty. For me ICE are DED and even if driving electric would cost me as much as petrol I would still choose electric.

AndyBoBandy

I see a fair few cars regularly plugged into the AC in my local Tesco and they seem to be managing just fine. Tesla's, Polestars, Leaf's plus many more...

Theres 1 car started using it now but only because they've parked a caravan on their driveway and can no longer access their own power source...

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119740280#Comment_119740280

Reminds me of the ZipchargeGo for business idea, pull into merchants quay, grab one of these from a central location, plug in and charge while you're gone

zg3409

Timeline seems optimistic. Do they need planning and can we see applications for m1?

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119789415#Comment_119789415

Planning isn't required for the charging units thanks to lobbying by eCars

the_amazing_raisin

They might need planning permission if there's additional power supply needed to the site, depends on how many chargers they want to install

I heard somewhere that the TII sites have something like 100kW or more already installed for EV charging, to support the existing 50kW charger plus a new one. No idea if it's true

Presumably Castlebellingham would be fine since they already have Superchargers on site, Lusk might need an upgrade however if they're installing a proper hub

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790246#Comment_119790246

The triples use 100kW supply already. 50kW DC + 43 kW AC SO not much left.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790255#Comment_119790255

Really? I thought they had 2 22kW supplies and the AC would take one of active, otherwise they both fed the DC side?

If they do have 100kW then I'm even more annoyed now that ESB never replaced them with units that could charge 2 cars on DC in parallel. That would fix about 90% of the queueing problems

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790304#Comment_119790304

The site operator didn't give them permission

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790304#Comment_119790304

No, they have 100kW, this is how you can charge a Zoe and a CCS/Chad car at the same time. I put a couple of photos on plugshare (including one at coynes cross) where the 50kW was delivering 80+kW

innrain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790304#Comment_119790304

There is the situation where a triple is limited to 50kW as it replaced an old 43kW DC. An example is Templeville. Supply never upgraded so the DC and AC are sharing 50/50 making for two awkward charging sessions of 25kW on DC and whatever the car can take on AC. But very important for statistics where "up to 2 cars can charge at one time". Waste of money and resources, like the HPC in Portlaoise limited to 50kW for a couple of weeks since summer of 2020(?). However, most of the triples are connected to 100kW supply, with the AC taking 50ish and most likely underutilised as 43AC cars are probably in order of tens. Efacec units are unable to share the DC unlike to ABB units Applegreen is installing.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790581#Comment_119790581

Did they ask? It's easy to not get permission if they never bothered to engage with Applegreen 🙂

Maybe I'm being unfair to Ecars, but they seem to have no shortage of excuses for not upgrading sites, or botching the sites they do upgrade

Anyway, more chargers on the M1 can only be a good thing, so fingers crossed that Applegreen can roll them out soon

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792414#Comment_119792414

There's been plenty of talk of Applegreen blocking any deployments on their sites for a good while now. Similarly, Applegreen did the same for a very long time with Gridserve at Welcome Break sites in the UK (which they own). The fuel station operators clearly don't want to co-operate with a competitor, at least they are now taking charging seriously and rolling out infrastructure of their own, they had a strong hand with site ownership, and they've played to win.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790831#Comment_119790831

The dozen Zoe owners with the fast AC charging are laughing. They've just about got one charger each in the whole country 🙄

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792820#Comment_119792820

Heard the other day that there's about 300 such Zoe's in the country, 43kW is slow by today's standards but never having to queue is a massive benefit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792560#Comment_119792560

Don't forget the applegreen in Waterford that famously (if you lived in the area) kicked ecars out last year... Ecars for their part didn't move the charging station to a nearby location so arguably nobody was right in this instance

the_amazing_raisin

Did he kick them out? I got the impression it was more of a mutual breakup

I'm not sure I'd take the Waterford looney's behaviour as part of some concerted effort on the part of Applegreen. He didn't seem like much of a team player anyway

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799282#Comment_119799282

If what you say is true and the franchisee isn't a team player then applegreen should revoke his license as his actions reflect very badly on the company

Then again maybe his actions are perfectly in line with applegreen's policy on electric vehicle charging and the franchisee at Coynes Cross isn't being a team player in this regard

ELM327

It's happening in every AG site so it isnt the franchisee

AndyBoBandy

He submitted planning permission for a site upgrade almost immediately after eCars left the site, and it included chargers, so he probably had that in his back pocket during his silly games with eCars.... in that he knew that Applegreen would likely subsidise a charger for him, and under better terms than he had with eCars...

It's an easy install too as there's already grid connection there.

Anyone been past here lately and seen any site upgrade works?

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799530#Comment_119799530

The planning permission was submitted in March '21 the charger wasn't removed until much later than that. The pp didn't represent a change in the site EV charging, it covered the existing two spaces. I think the link between the two is incidental at best.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799393#Comment_119799393

It's not happening at every AG site, it isn't happening at any in Limerick for example

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799530#Comment_119799530

I was there last weekend, no sign of any new chargers, had to go to the chargers in Waterford City

liamog

It's not happening at every AG site, it isn't happening at any in Limerick for example

Is there an Applegreen site in Limerick with a 3rd part party charging operator?

eagerv

Paulstown Applegreen services an hour or so ago. The boxed charger says 2 x CCS, couldn't see label on second one..

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119812664#Comment_119812664

Okay if Applegreen keeps this up we'll have nothing to complain about soon 🤣

reni10

Perfect location in Paulstown for a real charging hub for the M9 which is currently the worst served motorway by far!

Hopefully they put in about 12 chargers there

the_amazing_raisin

From the pedestals it looks like 2 chargers for now, gonna guess a double CCS and CCS+Chademo combo

On the bright side, it looks like 4==4 in Applegreen world

Unlike ESB who set 4=3 🙄

eagerv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119812911#Comment_119812911

2 double chargers in boxes at site, I would say your assumption is correct..

JohnC.

Does Paulstown get very busy? I've only been there once and it didn't seem like there was a lot of parking. I hope it's not the kind of place that fills up and they get ICEd.

That being said, I've just compared it with what's on Google Maps, and it looks like a new additional area of parking which was an area of grass, so it's not even taking away from the existing parking.

the_amazing_raisin

I've been there a couple of times a few years back. It didn't seem too busy, there was always parking available so hopefully it'll be okay

Not sure what it's like these days though

Black_Knight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119812698#Comment_119812698

Until we see the pricing. I'm on a fixed price tariff from Energia, but only today looked at what home energy prices are these days. 🤯 Public charging will be ludicrous pricing!

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119813150#Comment_119813150

True, Ionity is looking like quite the bargain these days

If I'm going to make some bets, they'll aim cheaper than Ionity but more expensive than ESB. Probably around 55-60c/kWh

Applegreen have made a business out of selling petrol at a minimal profit and making money from coffee and cakes. I could see them continuing the same model for EV charging

AndyBoBandy

By my count that’s 10 HPC’s installed by Applegreen in the last number of weeks…

eCars have probably done 10 in the last 18 months!!!

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119813957#Comment_119813957

If only ecars had forecourts.

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119812911#Comment_119812911

It seems it's much easier to get space for your charging spots when the operator and the site owner are the same people.

Nuphor

I see they're installing 2 units on the M9 at Paulstown - good spot.

ELM327

People always complain about the m9 being a black hole for charging (can't see why as theres a HPC) so hopefully this will help that

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119844090#Comment_119844090

Kilcullen is a sh1tshow, and its too far from Waterford for me to be useful..... Paulstown will be an ideal spot., and with at least 3 CCS plugs, there's a much better chance of finding an available plug than there is at Kilcullen..... Add to that just up the road you'll also have the 2 CCS plugs at the Circle K and suddenly the M9 looks to be a much safer bet to traverse without needing to queue...

I don't care what Applegreen charge per kWh... I'll still plan on stopping there on the 2-3 times a year I visit Waterford.... as 3 CCS plugs is a much much much safer bet than the 1 (or maybe 2 - sometimes) CCS plugs available in Kilcullen

ELM327

Yes I hear you on the paying more for more plugs per site, I often go to Ionity when there's no Tesla chargers en route for that reason, over easygo or ecars.